HATTIESBURG, Miss. (WHLT) – Southern Miss will host Jackson State at The Rock on Saturday. The City of Hattiesburg is gearing up for a large crowd and a major economic boost.

An estimated 30,000 fans are expected to visit the Hub City this weekend.

“Again, we have a great weekend here in the Hub City. Last weekend, we had an $11 million estimated economic impact from our kickoff football game and a large soccer tournament that was at Tatum Park. We’re expecting anywhere from $6 to $7 million in economic impact for this weekend as we take on Jackson State,” said Marlo Dorsey, executive director of Visit Hattiesburg.

Hotel rooms have quickly filled up, with most of them near capacity. Hotel and lodging revenue is expected to top $780,000.

“We’ll sell out this weekend, going into it off of a sell-out week. And so, games like this help fill those ‘shoulder nights,’ which are typically a little bit slower if there’s not a large event going on in the city. So, games like this are huge economic boosters for all hotels in the city,” said Frank James III, chairman of the Hattiesburg Tourism Commission and general manager of Courtyard by Marriott Hattiesburg.

Hub City bars and restaurants are bracing for large crowds this weekend, with locally owned spots saying game days are crucial to their business.

“The Porter is one of those spaces where we do see a lot of people coming through town, whether they’re visiting or whether they’re passing through. So, it’s always a nice crowd, and having that influx of customers from out of state or from out of the city is always good for us. It definitely impacts on our business and makes it worthwhile for sure,” said Roy Windham, the owner of The Porter Public House.

This game is just one example of Hattiesburg’s thriving sports tourism scene, which is an industry that supports thousands of jobs and brings in hundreds of millions of dollars to the city’s economy each year.

“Sports tourism is an economic driver and sports supports so many jobs here in the Hub City. In fact, the tourism industry as a whole supports over 6,000 jobs here in Hattiesburg. And just last year, it was an $880 million economic impact overall,” said Dorsey.

Ticket admissions for the game alone are expected to generate an estimated $1.5 million.